The present disclosure relates to an electroconductive element, an electroconductive element manufacturing method, a wiring element, an information input device, a display device, and an electronic apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electroconductive element in which an electroconductive pattern is formed on a substrate surface.
Hitherto, a circuit pattern forming method utilizing photolithography has been widely used as a manner for forming an electroconductive layer in a predetermined circuit pattern on an insulating substrate (base) made of, e.g., glass or plastic. Such a circuit pattern forming method is generally carried out by using a step and repeat process or a process similar to the former. In more detail, according to the step and repeat process, a circuit pattern is formed through steps of “metal layer coating”, “resist applying”, “exposure”, “development”, “removing”, and “resist peeling”. Thus, the circuit pattern forming method utilizing photolithography has a low throughput when it is carried out in practice.
With a view of increasing the throughput, a circuit pattern forming method utilizing screen printing is proposed. According to the circuit pattern forming method utilizing screen printing, an electroconductive layer in a predetermined circuit pattern is formed by coating, e.g., a metal paste on an insulating substrate through a mask by using a squeegee, and then baking the coated metal paste. Because the circuit pattern forming method utilizing screen printing provides a high throughput, its applications to various devices have been studied. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-266025 discloses a method of forming electrodes of a touch panel by utilizing the screen printing. Also, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-149807 discloses a method of forming electrodes of an image display apparatus by utilizing the screen printing.
However, the screen printing has the problems that a mask is expensive, aligning the mask with high accuracy is an intricate operation, and holes formed in the mask are susceptible to clogging. Thus, a circuit pattern forming method capable of realizing a high throughput is demanded instead of the screen printing.